McRib's Seasonal Availability Is All About Marketing

Last month we learned that McDonald's fabled McRib would return just in time for this year's holidays, and now we're finding out a bit more about the rationale for the timing.

“We don’t really do polar bears," DDB Chicago CEO Peter McGuinness told Business Insider about the agency's marketing plan for the McRib, a nod toward the Coca Cola's holiday-themed ad campaign. Without a good hook for Christmas, McDonald's figures, the McRib is a good substitute. The sandwich plays better as a seasonal item, anyway:

Turns out that not that many people actually like the McRib. Or rather, McDonald's is so huge that it needs all its items to be massively popular in order to keep their place on the menu. Those who do like the McRib, love it. But in the broader scheme, "It's not a mass play year-round," McGuinness says.

So there you have it. By the sound of it, the McRib's "cult sandwich" status may be a marketing trick more than anything.

Photo by Flickr user Ruocaled.